Rubisco is the main enzyme that is responsible for capturing carbon dioxide and turning it into sugars for the plant. Turns out, that while Rubisco is one of the most vital components of photosynthesis—it’s not very good at its job in most crops such as cowpeas, soybeans, and rice. About 35 percent of the time, Rubisco tries to fix oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. This error produces a carbon compound called glycolate that the plant must recycle to salvage a portion of carbon that can be used in photosynthesis. This recovery process, however, costs the plant a large amount of energy. The RIPE team has created a shorter recovery pathway, conserving energy and resources that the plant can reinvest to increase crop productivity by as much as 40 percent, according to work published in Science in 2019. Right now our team is translating these findings to key food crops including potatoes and soybean.
Photorespiratory Bypass
The underappreciated role of pods and siliques to developing seeds
Research overseen by RIPE's Doug Allen discovered that plant pods support seed development and higher yields, playing a significant role in photosynthesis. Their work was recently published in Science Advances.
RIPE's Yong-Su Jin honored as University Scholar
Yong-Su Jin, a professor of food science and human nutrition, is among the five University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professors who have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship, and service.
We Can Grow 60% More Food By Hacking Photosynthesis
Hacking photosynthesis could grow up to 60% more food, on the same land we use today, according to an international team of researchers.
By: Amanda Winkler || Freethink
Climate-ready crop: RIPE team shows increase in food mass through photorespiratory bypass in elevated temperatures
A team from the University of Illinois has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions. This adaptation may provide greater food security for families dependent on potatoes, as these are often the same areas where the changing climate has already affected multiple crop seasons. Their work was recently published in Global Change Biology
Researchers improve seed nitrogen content by reducing plant chlorophyll levels
Chlorophyll plays a pivotal role in photosynthesis, but it uses a lot of a plant's resources. RIPE researchers wondered if they reduced a plant's chlorophyll levels, if the plant would invest those resources in other areas, potentially improving nutritional quality or yield. Their findings were recently published in the Plant, Cell & Environment journal.
RIPE team develops toolkit for synthetic biology
A team from Louisiana State University (LSU) has developed a number of synthetic biology tools for plant geneticists to use to drive the expression of genes.